An awakened Heart
by thowdan
Summary: Can his icy heart be pierced? The story of a death knight and a priestess. rated m for later chapters
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: As this is a fanfic and not a story I plan to publish professionally, some of the text is verbatim from the warcraft games, just some dialogue from main characters but only 2-3 instances so far and not looking to have much more, this is an original story after all. Please read and review, this is my first entry and I look forward to the feedback, thank you.**

Chapter 1

I opened my eyes, bone chilling air filling my lungs. I looked down at my hands, pale and cold. I smelled the acrid scent of decay all around me; I looked at the place I was in, a thin veil of frost covering my surroundings. I looked up and I saw him, I didn't know who he was but what I felt in his presence was a mixture of every feeling I could think to have all at once. Strongest of all was the sense of absolute power, he exuded it like an aura, so powerful it was almost palpable. I didn't feel like things could get any darker, any colder but then he spoke, his words falling around me like ice from a tree's limbs.

"All that I am: anger, cruelty, vengeance- I bestow upon you, my chosen knight. I have given you immortality so that you may herald in a new dark age for the scourge." He spoke this to me but it felt more like it was coming from me, deep within my core I felt his words.

The scourge, this seemed almost familiar to me but from a distant pass I couldn t connect with. Where you tread, doom will follow you, death knight. I heard his voice whispering in my head, it was all around me loud and soft all at once. I felt a power rise within me at his words, nothing like I could remember feeling before. His words had imbued me with the strength of a thousand men and I knew I would lay my life down in service of him.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The next few months, maybe years stretched by, I couldn't sense time anymore, I was not of this world and the other death knights and I worked on our own time, hardly stopping to eat or drink. Our service to him was never ending. They called him the Lich King but I knew him as father and savior, he had brought me back from the brink and gave me life. My training had made me strong, unholy energy coursing through my body; I was far beyond the realm of normal mortals. To us they were no different than elk and we hunted them for sport, slaying whole villages with just a few of us knights. Men, woman and children none were spared the master's wrath. We came upon a larger village and decided to make camp for the night, revel in our spoils a bit. There was a barrack behind the church we had burned and I was tasked with killing a prisoner inside. I steeled myself for the bloodshed that would ensue, as I walked through the door, harnessing all the unholy energy that I could manage. I locked eyes with the man and his seemed to light up at mine. He half ran, half crawled to my feet, gasping for breath. His face was bloodied and bruised; the other knights had already put in some time with him. He stood, hands clutching at my chest, eyes wild as he tried to speak.

"Dalstan, Dalstan is it really you? I-I thought you were dead, don t you recognize me, brother?"

I studied the man's face, dark bags under his eyes, balding disheveled hair, rags for clothes and he smelled of his own waste. I pushed him away from me, unsheathing my blade; it glowed with the impending strike.

"I do not know how you know my name, peasant, but no matter, your end will be the same." I raised my blade as he pleaded, near tears.

"Please, brother, remember who you are, who you once were, he, that monster, is clouding your mind. You were once a great warrior, we fought together to beat back the scourge, remember who you are, Dalstan, remember Erwin, you loved her so."

That name unlocked something within me, images and event flooding into my mind._ A battle, a woman, a city, a young man training in the fields, everything was a jumble of thoughts. I saw myself but not as I was now, but how I was years ago. I was standing in full battle plate, in formation with the man now at my feet, standing valiantly by side._ I shook my head trying to forcefully remove the scene from my head. No matter who I was, I was now an agent of the Lich King and his will was my own. I cut the man down unceremoniously, his blood splattered about, I bent down to use what was left of his shirt to clean my blade and walked out, leaving him bleeding on the floor. His words and the thoughts I was having didn't die with him, though. I felt like a part of me had returned, some lost remnants of the man I was before my awakening.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Back at Archerus, the main base of operations for the Lich King and his minions, the air was different, I couldn t quite place it but something was off. Highlord Darion Mograine was talking with the master, they were planning something, the air, it felt alive with electricity. They gathered all the knights, recently turned and seasoned veterans. The king spoke of a war that was coming, a war on the light itself. We were going to storm Light's Hope Chapel, the one symbol of the light in the plague lands. The land was overrun with scourge and Archerus loomed over it like a specter but Light's Hope and its hallowed ground still stood. It took two weeks to outfit all the soldiers, 10,000 strong. The church was only guarded by 300 men and woman; we could easily destroy them within minutes.

All of my training honing my dark art was going to be needed for this. I focused my mind and called a lesser scourge to my side. At dawn, we marched out, led by the Highlord and two of the king's best death knights Koltira and Thassarian. We finally saw the chapel's forces and burst into a dead sprint. Maces, axes, and swords barred and at the ready, thousands of death knight voices yelling into the wind. Time seemed to slow as our line crashed into theirs, the sounds of clashing plate and steel broke the morning silence. Bodies fell around me, dark magic and searing light flying all over. I spotted a paladin about 20 yards casting something towards the Highlord and channeled my unholy energies and reached through the nether to pull him towards me, he fell with a thud at my feet, my axe finding his neck upon landing. I looked down at his twisted face, he almost looked familiar but I couldn't place it. I shook off the ghosts of my former self and charged at the next priest I saw.

Things looked to be in our favor when the ground started to shake, a slight smile crept onto my face as I knew the master was approaching. As his feet found the ground a paladin walked out of the chapel, he was dressed much like the others but his power was immense, the light was strong in him, it coursed through and around him, the light was almost blinding as I and the others turned away to shield our eyes. When he spoke it wasn t to the master but to Highlord Mograine, he fell to his knees in front of the paladin, unable to move. What we all saw next was life changing, the vision of Alexandros Mograine, the Highlord's father, coming from the light. I was too far away to hear what they were saying but the master was not amused, he attempted an attack on the paladin but the light in this place was too strong, even for the Lich King. The paladin spoke out to us, telling us of the Lich King s betrayals, I didn t know what to think, but then the master's voice spoke confirming all of our fears, he had sent us here to die, for good. We death knights were no more than pawns ho him in his chess game of power. Arthas, as the paladin explained was once a fighter and a prince of lordaeron, corrupted by the power and hatred.

So moved by the vision he had seen, the Highlord pledged his allegiance and that of all the death knights to the paladin s order, the Argent Dawn. It was as if a cloud has been lifted from my mind, no more were we corrupted scourge but agents of the light. As I felt the power of the chapel surround us all, my memory became clear. _I was Dalstan, once a great warrior and husband, a man of valor and fierce allegiance to my city and people. A soldier in the royal guard, an officer tasked with protecting King Varian Wrynn himself. My wife Erwin was a beautiful woman and a powerful mage, her life was cut short in the battle against the scourge. It left me reckless and without abandon, I charged and broke ranks and was struck down by a wall of scourge, death came swiftly._ As my mind raced back to the present the Lich King was gone. Bodies both scourge and righteous were strewn about. The Highlord spoke, he was standing near the great paladin, who I later learned was Highlord Tirion Fordring, he told us we would travel to storm wind and properly allege ourselves to the kind and pledge our services in fighting the remaining scourge that plagued the world.

"This day will go down in history as a blow to the Lich King and all that he stands for. Those who stand before me, ready to pledge themselves to the light and to the side of righteousness are all instruments in his undoing. Though we were not meant to be, we are and we will use our abilities anyway we can to show our solidarity against the evils of this world."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

It was a four day journey but being brought back from the dead had its advantages. I didn't have to stop for food or drink or even rest. Looking up at the sun it appeared to be about midday as I reached the giant arches to the city, my city. I got off my horse and we walked down the path and into the main square. If I had been a lesser man I would ve been hit by the apple flying at my head. I deftly dodged it only to have another flung at me; the people were through trash, food, anything they could at me.

"Traitorous dog!" One woman spat.

"My family was killed by the scourge!" A man yelled as he threw more fruit at me. Even the guards joined in spitting and throwing what they could find within reach at me. I understood their hatred and for the first time I felt remorse, for all the killings we had done, for the killings I had done. I endured more insults and various items thrown my way, not bothering to stop it. I deserved it and more for what he had made me do. I made my way to the city's keep where the kind was. Highlord Mograine had given me a letter to take to the kind. The guards stopped me outside of the throne room and wouldn t let me pass. The commotion at the door alerted those inside and as the big wooden doors swung open, I pushed out hard with my all my energy, knocking guards back all around me and ran to the throne, throwing myself at the kings feet. I held out the letter and to my complete surprise he took it and read it silently to himself.

"Stand, death knight, tell me your name, though your skin is that of a dead mans and your eyes are dull and blue, I feel we have met before." I stood up, looking around me. I was met with the seething hatred held in the stares of the men surrounding me. All but one and the kind looked at me as if I was filth, she stood to the king s right, long flowing robes about her, a high priest from the looks of it. Her eyes met mine and for the first time I didn t see fear or disgust, she didn t recoil at my gaze and a small part of me was filled with hope, hope that my life could once again be lived on my own terms and not those of a madman drunk with power. I straightened up and addressed the king as clearly as I could, my voice raspy from my time in the grave.

"King Wrynn, you are correct in that we have met before. I was once an officer in your personal guard; I am Dalstan of Stormwind, son of Thaodin. I was a great warrior and servant of this kingdom. I do not come seeking your forgiveness for my atrocities; I only come in the hopes that I may find some semblance of a life here in my former city." He looked at me long and hard.

"Let it be known, this man, Dalstan, son of Thaodin, is no longer on the side of evil and he and the order he belongs to have pledged their services in our fight against the Lich King and his forces in Icecrown. This man and all death knights are to be treated with respect, the same you would give your own brother. From this day forth the city of Stormwind opens her doors to the Knights of the Ebon Blade." The guards all saluted and while the fire in their eyes still burned, they wouldn t dare break a direct order from the king. I caught the eye of the woman again, this time she looked away first, an almost imperceptible blush creeping over her face.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I left the keep and headed to where my former house stood. It was a small one bedroom cottage near the most northern wall of the city to my surprise my home still stood, empty and filled with dust but still standing. The land around it was overgrown and the crops were all dead. I went out back to find enough kindling and wood for a modest fire. I tried to clean up as best as I could, the image of my wife flashing through my mind, her sweeping as I tended the fire. For the first time I really missed her, I never had the chance to mourn her death, mine coming so soon after. I righted a chair and fell into it, sobbing. I cried long and hard, sure no one would hear me on my remote part of the land. Just as I was coming down from my grief, tears streaming down my face, there was a knock at my door. I quickly tried to clean myself up and my surroundings as I opened the door; it was the woman from the keep.

"Sorry to disturb you, Dalstan, but the king wanted to know if there was anything you needed to get your land back in order and also to report to the Grand Marshal in the morning about a position in the royal guard." I looked around the land outside my door, I wasn't sure I could even begin to start again. It all seemed so daunting with just me to tend to it.

"Thank you for stopping by to let me know but I won t need anything for the land that I don't already have. I will report to the Grand Marshal as soon as I can in the morning." She gave me a nod and a slight bow and walked back towards the main city center. I couldn't help but watch her go, there was something so serene and graceful about her gait, it captivated me. I tried to get a hold of my more base emotions, wondering what the people would think if they saw me, a war mongering undead leering at one of the most powerful women in the king's army, and then it occurred to me, I didn't even know this woman's name.

I closed the door and got back to cleaning, it wasn't an arduous task but one I wanted to do well. As I moved around with the broom, a part of me almost missed the battlefields of the scourge, fighting alongside Naxxramas' finest, now my sworn enemies. I didn t know what to make of it, I didn't want to be that monster anymore, killing innocent people for the fun of it but I knew a part of me forever would be. I would need to learn to channel that energy for good and not give in to the blood lust that my blade ached for.


End file.
